Indifference
by voicelord
Summary: She had always acted with indifference, he had always searched for that missing part in his life. Somehow, both managed to fulfil all that and so much more. Tamaki x Haruhi


**Chapter 1: Indifference**

Showing indifference was the key to a quiet, _normal_ life.

No one was quite the same after all, even the famous Hitachiin twins. Variation was what controlled this world and variation was what helped the Host Club to function so successfully (in which, Kyouya-senpai's contributions were more of a cunning mystery that was never to be solved). The different types of members brought together by fate or perhaps luck, allowed the hundreds (actually, make that thousands) of fan girls to taste the full force of utter fantasy.

The irreplaceable time of bliss, for all those girls at least.

It was safe to say that Fujioka Haruhi was **not** one of them.

She liked her life simple and normal as indicated before, and her philosophy of indifference was essential in achieving such a goal.

Notions behind gender, physical attributions, academic achievements, status and money were simply pointless within her criteria. Having a so-called bisexual father may have influenced her in certain aspects, but the bottom line was that Haruhi liked to treat everything equally.

Giving different levels of attention to different people required calculative thinking and sharp judgment. Placing different ratings for different clothes required extensive taste and keen eyes. Reinforcing stereotypical notions of gender meant she had to consider both the biological _and_ the psychological aspects behind the genetically different specimens.

Such requirements were indeed troublesome, to say the least.

All in all, indifference was simply the way to go.

It was not that Haruhi did not have first impressions on specific individuals or that she had bad taste in clothing. She simply did so **a lot** less than most of the occupants within society.

When she first entered into the crazy world involving all the Host Club members, it was safe to say that her first thoughts were skeptical and that of utter confusion. An unbelievably rich school consisting of a club that focused on entertaining women (and men in some situations) in a professional manner which involved dressing up, muttering sweet-nothings into the eager ears of the fan girls, playing the role of a gay couple that took the breath away from many, as well as spending a considerable amount of money in order to come up with unimaginable events.

It was sheer hilarity and it also consisted of a pinch of silliness.

Actually, the very concept of it all would have been considered _unethical_ from her part of town.

The idea itself was simply _preposterous_.

It was like an abnormal glint within her once normal life, sticking out like a sore thumb. The six members had ruined all her hard work behind the philosophy of indifference.

The sudden imbalance had startled her immensely. She had been too frantic to get out that she had knocked out and broke a vase that was worth more than she could ever imagine and with the sound of glass shattering, her bright future broke into millions of tiny pieces.

It was as if God was testing her life's worth of philosophy behind indifference and boy, did he succeed! Playing the role of a host, hiding her true biological gender and putting up with six insanely different members.

It hadn't been easy.

If she had been any other girl, either they would have fainted in hopes that one of the members would carry them to the nurse's office or simply cried in hysteria. Luckily, Fujioka Haruhi was no ordinary girl.

She was _Fujioka Haruhi_ and she did not faint in order to be carried in the arms of a stranger or cry inappropriately. She may be blunt, she may be merciless when speaking what's on her mind and she may be a little clumsy, but she _did not_ do girlish things in order to win the heart of a couple of rich bastards.

That would be placing more affection towards a certain group of boys.

That was not the way her mind worked. It was as simple as that.

However, problems began to rise within her once orderly life.

After spending a few more days with them, _things_ started to happen. It all started with a girl who was once _his_ faithful customer. She had been quite venomous in the way she had spoken to her since day number one. Not one to be placing too much importance in one situation, Haruhi had shrugged off her incivility in her usual way of indifference. It was probably her fault since she _did_ corrupt the members by introducing them to "commoners' food." Whatever the reason, the dumping of her school bag in the pond had been the beginning of the turning point.

The mostly sought after bachelor famously known as "Tamaki-sama" to his little princesses as well as "King" or "daddy" by others, had jumped into a pond (a rich boy jumping into unsanitary water?) to help a mere commoner retrieve a wallet that would not have held much for any of them to flinch the slightest bit.

She had been stunned and it took quite a lot to mentally shock Fujioka Haruhi.

It made her slowly realize that their world was not as _abnormal_ as she first thought it to be. It was merely…different just like everything else. She began to make connections and it drew her even more closer than she had intended, like a moth to a flame.

She wanted to learn more.

She wanted to understand them.

She wanted to accept it as part of her normal perception as a 'commoner'.

In all truths, Tamaki-senpai had been the rabbit that pulled the now curious girl into the rabbit hole and the journey was just as endless.

The Host Club members constantly making her dress up like her true gender, the comical situations of her 'first kiss', coming up with stupid plans to keep her secret safe, the fake fights between the twins, the Halloween party, the adventures at the beach, the members coming over to her house _uninvited_, the unforgettable race between the different school clubs, meeting new interesting people from different schools (a rich female school) and different backgrounds (a heir to a long-line of Yakuza clan!), getting to see the 'walls' that divided her from the rest of them as well as the numerous numbers of thunderstorms…

_The thunderstorms…_

Perhaps it was because he had been the first.

Tamaki-senpai had been the first to witness her phobia with thunderstorms that day. He had been the first to see her body tremble with fear and dread. He had been the first to feel her shaky hands, desperately trying to clutch onto his shirt. He had been the first to watch her hide inside the wardrobe.

He had been the first to see that she was alone.

He had been the first understand her feelings of loneliness and he had been the first to comfort her for such reasons. He had been the first to pull her out. He had also been the first to erase such thoughts of solitude and she was forever grateful for it.

She was no longer alone.

Perhaps when she ran into his arms that day she had given up using her theory of indifference upon the famous Host Club member. When his warm hands met her cold skin, she could no longer play the game of indifference. He had gently brushed her hair in a comforting manner, his scent had surrounded her senses as she snuggled into his embrace, and his words reached her in a way no other had ever before.

Since that day, her level of attention could no longer remain stable amongst these different individuals in her life.

Her soft spot for the Hitachiin twins, her motherly and sisterly affection for Hunny-senapi and Mori-senpai, her respect (and fear) for Kyouya-senpai and an unexplainable space for _Tamaki-senpai…_

She could no longer act according to her philosophy of indifference for these six members.

_They were special._

They were all so special in their own ways and she would have it no other way.

"Haruhi-chan! Come to daddy my sweet little princess!"

...Actually, perhaps she would need to think that last part through.

* * *

It had been another hectic day of entertaining eager customers.

It was safe to say that Suoh Tamaki was _extremely_ tired.

He never really showed it much considering that everyone got the impression that he had enough fuel to last him for an eternity. Such characteristics were his downfall in times such as these when he just wanted the ground to swallow him up completely.

With another sigh of resignation, Tamaki allowed himself to lie down fully on the expensive couch in the middle of the music room. The velvety texture of the furniture was soft against his back as he slowly stretched his legs out completely, but his features still remained dark and unreadable. All the rest of the members had left for their respectable homes at the end of the club session and the silence was disturbing him immensely.

It was times such as these that made him wonder about his existence.

Why was he still doing this? Could he continue on without falling dangerously deeper into the plot? What would happen when all of this ended in the upcoming year? What was the point of trying?

What was the point of clinging onto this person called Tamaki when his entire existence revolved around the prestigious Suoh household?

With a frustrated growl, Tamaki roughly brushed his golden locks away from his sensitive eyes.

All throughout his life, he had hoped to hold onto something that he could call his own. The first fourteen years of his life consisted of him living in France with his beautiful mother. She had taught him the ways of her people, she had given him hugs during sleepless nights and goodnight kisses to sooth his restlessness. He had learned her language and lived a life of simple luxury.

But when his gentle mother was out of sight, he would secretly pull out the forbidden photo albums that contained all the memories of the past.

He looked at the smiling photos of a handsome man and his beautiful mother. His face would be that of laughter and his mother's face would be full of smiles and blushes. He would be holding onto her tightly in the next page whereas his mother would be engulfed in warmth and love. Happiness, moments and untold tales would linger within every page until the very end, _the last page._

It was the only photo that had all three of them captured together in that single moment.

A sudden snap shot of time that Tamaki could only cling to.

It had been what motivated him to work up the courage to ask for permission to learn the language of Japanese. It had been what pushed him to eat all his vegetables to become just as tall as the man in the photo album. It had been what allowed him to dream of a day when he would actually meet the man of the past, to be able to call him by his proper endearment, _father_.

For fourteen years, all he did was wait until he no longer knew what he was waiting for.

When he was finally acknowledged (and threatened by his grandmother) to come and live in Japan, he had been a bundle of emotions. Perhaps leaving behind his mother for the good of the 'household' would do that to a person. But at the back of his mind during the entire trip, he knew that he was meant to live in Japan with his father.

Call it destiny if you will, but _something_ told him that he had to go.

Perhaps his disoriented mind had chanted such words at his brain to compensate for the loss he had to endure, for loosing his mother just like that. Whatever the reason, Japan felt like a starting point of a new journey for him.

At first, his original goal lingered on the idea of becoming the head of the Suoh household, after his father of course.

He dreamt of having the power to support his mother and the status to connect back the broken pieces of his family.

But life never seemed to go easy on anyone, even an offspring of a multi-billionaire household such as himself.

Soon, the idea of him being the next in line in the Suoh household was something that he preferred not to place too much importance on. If his grandmother did approve and if he did become accepted as the heir, it would definitely be beneficial in many aspects. But as time passed on, somewhere at the back of his mind, he began searching for other things.

He began searching for a new world that existed outside his own.

_And he found Fujioka Haruhi._

He found his precious 'daughter' who showed him how simple life can be. She showed him the simple pleasures in life that did not even cost a dime. She showed him that coffee could be instantly made costing considerably less than those he had familiarized himself to and she showed him the satisfaction of playing 'games' that did not require a cheque book.

But most important of all, _she understood._

She did not see the Suoh household before him, she did not see him as a bastard's child, and she certainly did not see him as a person with loads and loads of money.

To her, he was simply "Tamaki-senpai" and that was the greatest gift anyone could ever present to him. Letting out a sigh of pure bliss, Tamaki allowed his violet eyes to close for a brief moment. But before he could lull himself to sleep, the sound of the door opening and the gentle voice of a certain someone had him forcing his tired eyes open by sheer will power.

"What are you still doing here, Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi softly cried out.

It appeared that the reason for Haruhi's return revolved around the fact that she had left her wallet near the piano after the Host Club session. As she made her way towards the piano, he carried on with his normal antics of his 'fatherly love' for his precious 'daughter'. Expecting her blunt words of attack, he readied himself to crouch in one of the nearest corners of the large music room.

But surprisingly, all she did was watch. She did not utter out a single word of disapproval or annoyance. She simply picked up her once-forgotten wallet and simply stationed herself a good meter away from where Tamaki was currently situated in.

Haruhi simply leaned towards the piano for support and all she did was stare.

She stared and stared and stared, at his handsome face, his elegant posture, his clear eyes…_everything and anything to do with him_…

All Tamaki could do was stare back at her with startled eyes and a face twisted in confusion. Why wasn't she doing anything? She should have retorted back, left him sulking and should have made her way towards the nearest exit.

"Haruhi…?" He absent-mindedly whispered to himself.

Suddenly, as if a light-bulb had clicked in that unpredictable brain of hers, Haruhi slowly made her way towards the expensive couch inhabited by yours truly. A mischievous smile was unmistakably spreading across her face with every second.

It was safe to say that Tamaki's heart was ready to burst out from his ribcage due to the increasing amount of tension suffocating the two occupants.

When the petite girl arrived all the way to her destination, Tamaki could single out each individual strands of her soft hair, he could smell her feminine scent and he could almost taste her cherry-lips. A new wave of emotions washed through him when they parted gently to usher out the words that would forever be embedded in his memories.

"Thanks for proving me wrong Tamaki-sepnai... Thanks for making me think _differently_."

Concluding all this with a soft peck on his cheek Haruhi let out a gleeful laughter before making her way towards the double doors. "See you tomorrow senpai! Have a good afternoon!" When the doors closed with a small clicking sound all Tamaki could do was simply fall back down on the couch once more, desperately trying to lessen the frantic beating of his heart.

Gently tracing the side of his face that had been ceremoniously presented with the affectionate gesture, he allowed a hoarse chuckle to escape his trembling lips. It seemed that his questions had been finally answered!

"I knew I had to come to Japan for a reason…"

And somehow, that was all that mattered in the complicated lives of Souh Tamaki and Fujioka Haruhi.


End file.
